The victim is a wife to a Uganda People’s Defense Forces-UPDF soldier, who travelled to the barracks to nurse her ailing husband on Tuesday. The soldier whose identities have been withheld is reported to have suffered a mental breakdown and was admitted in the barrack’s health facility.

All the new cases are Ugandan contacts to people who have already tested positive for the disease. 15 of them are from Kyotera, nine are frontline health workers from Kampala while eight cases were from Yumbe. The rest were picked from the areas of Mayuge,Pader and Buvuma.

The case was confirmed in the community on Wednesday and instructing to isolate from his family and the community and wear a face mask as he waits for evacuation. But it took the Ministry of Health up to 30 hours to evacuate the confirmed patient from the community, together with four of his family members.

The three, all adult male truck drivers; two from Oli division and one from Dadamu Sub County, in Arua district are part of 29 locals who were admitted at the regional COVID-19 treatment centre after testing positive from Elegu border and some of their contacts.

Bishop Loum Janani, the head of the surveillance committee and case management at the hospital says that the five new admissions include a man from Ngomoromo at the Uganda–Sudan border, a pregnant mother from Padibe East Sub-County in Lamwo District.

Rugunda heads the National Covid19 Task force and has been meeting several people on the task force and receiving relief donations. He however, couldn’t disclose the number of people who will be tested.

On the first day of the exercise, a number of high profile officials reportedly tested positive for the virus and have started treatment. Their contacts, including the Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda also went into self-isolation.

The $7.6million project that is being completed using funds secured from donors, Global Fund and the global vaccines body GAVI, the Vaccines Alliance was supposed to be up and running by August 2019 having started works in 2017. But, Health Minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng says the project has been delayed by the coronavirus disease pandemic which caused halts with lockdowns.

In the 35 districts where the project was being implemented, even as some had health center IIIs and IVs that can offer maternal and child health services including Caesarean section births, they would choose to part with some money to seek care from their 146 facilities.

They have created more space to enable social distancing, installing automated document readers to eliminate excessive scanning passport pages and e- boarding pass readers and other glass shields at the baggage check-in points to reduce contact between passengers and immigration, customs and health officers.

Departing passengers will now be expected to arrive at the airport at least four hours before boarding to go through the Health Port screening procedures. They will also be required to present a valid health certificate from the Ministry of Health or undergo a rapid test at the airport before departure.

20 of the cases were from alerts and contacts that were picked from the community in the areas of Kampala, Amuru, Mayuge, Kyotera, Wakiso, Dokolo and Amolatar, while 15 were from truck drivers who were tested from Elegu border post, Busia, in Lia, Malaba and the Oraba.

USAID Global Malaria Coordinator and COVID-19 Task Force Leader Dr Kenneth Staley said that already the agency has given USD 3.6 million COVID specific assistance to the country but about USD 1.3 million was tagged to activities meant to help refugees and their host communities.